A method of operating a mass spectrometer that allows for high-speed operation is disclosed. The method consists in separating the various steps needed to produce a mass spectrum into three or more conceptual stages in a pipeline, such that the instrument is performing steps to process more than two precursor-ion species simultaneously. In general, the number of stages in the pipeline should at least one more and, preferably, at least two more than the number of buffering storage devices in the instrument. The presently-taught methods and apparatus allow for nearly 100% duty cycle of ion accumulation for precursors of interest.

A quadrupole mass spectrometer includes: a quadrupole mass filter including a pre-rod; an ionization chamber; and an ion optical system that guides ions generated in the ionization chamber to the pre-rod of the quadrupole mass filter, wherein: a potential of an exit side electrode of the ion optical system is lower than a potential of the ionization chamber and a potential of the pre-rod of the quadrupole mass filter; and there is no structure that has a higher potential than the exit side electrode and decelerates the ions between the exit side electrode and the pre-rod.

A time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOF MS) comprises a mass analyzer, an ion pushing device, a filtering device, a multi-pass reflector, a detector, and a decoder. The ion pushing device is arranged to push ions into the mass analyzer. The filtering device is arranged to filter a portion of the ions based on a mass range of the ions. The multi-pass reflector is arranged to selectively reflect the ions for further passes through the mass analyzer. The detector is arranged to receive the ions. The decoder is arranged to reconstruct a mass spectrum for the entire mass range of the ions.

An ion optical arrangement (1) for use in a mass spectrometer comprises electrodes (11, 12, 14) comprising a multipole arrangement defining an ion optical axis, and a voltage source for providing voltages to the electrodes to produce electric fields. The ion optical arrangement is configured for producing a radio frequency electric focusing field for focusing ions on the ion optical axis. The radio frequency electric focusing field has a varying frequency so as to reduce any mass dependence of ion trajectories through the ion optical arrangement. The ion optical arrangement may further be configured for producing a static electric field in response to a DC bias voltage applied to the multipole arrangement. A superimposed varying electric field may be produced by superimposing an AC voltage upon the DC bias voltage.

An ion optical arrangement (1) for use in a mass spectrometer comprises a collision cell defining an ion optical axis along which ions may pass, electrodes comprising a set of parallel poles (11A, 11B, 11C) arranged in the collision cell, and a voltage source for providing voltages to the electrodes to produce electric fields. The ion optical arrangement is arranged for switching between a first operation mode in which the collision cell is pressurized and a second operation mode in which the collision cell is substantially evacuated. The ion optical arrangement is further arranged for producing a radio frequency electric focusing field in the first operation mode and a static electric focusing field in the second operation mode.

An ion optical arrangement (1) for use in a mass spectrometer comprises electrodes (11) defining an ion optical path, a housing (18) for accommodating the electrodes, a voltage source for providing voltages to the electrodes to produce electric fields, and a valve for allowing gas to enter and/or leave the housing. The valve comprises an electrostatic mechanism and/or a pneumatic mechanism. The electrostatic mechanism may comprise a flexible foil (30, 31) configured for covering at least one opening (16) in the ion optical arrangement when a first voltage is applied and being spaced apart from the at least one opening when a second voltage is applied. The pneumatic mechanism may comprise a Bourdon tube.

A method of operating a mass spectrometer that allows for high-speed operation is disclosed. The method consists in separating the various steps needed to produce a mass spectrum into three or more conceptual stages in a pipeline, such that the instrument is performing steps to process more than two precursor-ion species simultaneously. In general, the number of stages in the pipeline should at least one more and, preferably, at least two more than the number of buffering storage devices in the instrument. The presently-taught methods and apparatus allow for nearly 100% duty cycle of ion accumulation for precursors of interest.

A plasma processing system includes a plasma chamber configured to contain a plasma, a shutter chamber fluidically coupled to the plasma chamber via a first orifice, a mass spectrometer fluidically coupled to the shutter chamber, and a shutter disposed in the shutter chamber between the first orifice and the mass spectrometer in the path of a particle beam. The first orifice is configured to generate the particle beam from the plasma using a pressure differential between the shutter chamber and the plasma chamber. The mass spectrometer includes an ionizer configured to ionize species of the particle beam by sweeping through a range of electron energies in a plurality of energy steps. The shutter is configured to open and close during each of the plurality of energy steps.

An ion guide (222) is for use in transport of an ion incident from an upstream side toward a downstream side. The ion guide includes 2n rod electrodes (n is an integral number greater than or equal to 2) equally spaced and surrounding an ion optical axis (C) that is a central axis of a flight path of the ion, a voltage applying unit (30) that applies a radio-frequency voltage to the 2n rod electrodes, and a controller (43) that controls the voltage applying unit (30). The controller (43) prompts the voltage applying unit (30) to apply a radio-frequency voltage that generates, in a space surrounded by the 2n rod electrodes, an electric field which is a 2n-multipole electric field superimposed by a higher-order electric field component than the 2n-multipole electric field.

A method of filtering ions (16) is disclosed comprising: providing an ion filter (6) having an ion entrance, an ion exit and a plurality of electrodes (18); applying an AC and/or RF voltage to at least a first electrode so as to generate a pseudo-potential barrier; and urging ions towards the pseudo-potential barrier as they travel from the entrance to the exit whilst maintaining the ion filter (6) at a pressure such that first ions are repelled by the pseudo-potential barrier and so are transmitted through the filter to said exit, whereas second ions having substantially the same mass to charge ratio as the first ions but a lower mass are not capable of being repelled by the pseudo-potential barrier and reaching said exit.